New Dark Secrets Surfacing in: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

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harry potter and the cursed child When I saw that this book was coming out, I actually didn’t have high hopes for it. I’m not the sort of fan who is desperate for a favourite author to keep writing and writing. I suppose I’m a “quit while your ahead” person, and I’m always quite cautious about picking up a sequel to something when you were quite content with the way it ended. So the Harry Potter series – yeah, I was happy with the ending, but curious about the content of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. So curiosity got the better of me and I picked it up… and read it. Because, at the end of the day, what was there to loose?

Well, er, my faith in JK.Rowling, the ‘magic’ of the previous seven books, my perspective on the series…

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is set nineteen years after to the events in the original seven books. It is, of course, in the format of a script (why, by the way, did not put me off  in the slightest – I’ve read scripts before, and I love how quick and easy to read they are) so I enjoyed that.

But for me, it is the storyline of this play, which was the most important thing. And frankly, I just couldn’t see it meeting the standards of the earlier books. I also couldn’t understand how a Harry Potter play would work on stage, I mean, how are they going to get away with flying brooms and extraordinary spells without the special effects that the films had?

So, I had my doubts, but I was actually pleasantly surprised. This book, I mean play is actually really impressive and exceeds any expectations I had for it. The storyline is equally as mysterious and complex and the original storylines, and the characters are just as interesting.

So a majority of the play is set in Albus Potter’s (Harry’s son) fourth year at Hogwarts, and is about Albus’ escapades with his best friend, Scorpius – the son of Draco Malfoy. Although it is emphasized that he is in fact the son of Malfoy, there are rumours that Scorpius is the son of Voldemort, circulated by many characters, including Harry Potter. I have to admit, I was disappointed by the way Harry Potter was portrayed in this play. In my eyes, he had lost what made him such a likable character in the original series; his adventurousness, his kindness, his modesty and his patience, and had become an irritable, careless father who didn’t seem to have time for either his kids or his friends. He was obviously very overworked at the Ministry of Magic, his workplace, but my argument to that is: Hermionie, who had a much higher position at the Ministry – as in, the actual Minister, still had plenty of time for her child: Rose.

So anyway, regarding the actual storyline, this book was very good, in my opinion. It surrounds the death of Cedric Diggory, who died in the graveyard in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Basically, Cedric’s father, Amos, comes to Harry, begging him to use a timeturner to go back and save his son, however Harry says no, but his son, Albus, had overheard and becomes desperate to deal with the suggestion, himself. He and his best friend Scorpius team up with Amos’s niece, Delphini, to delve back into the past and recover Cedric Diggory from that terrible evening when Voldemort ordered him to be killed, and called him the spare.

But when they go back in time back to the Triwizard Tournament, small changes that they make in order to try and save Cedric, make enormous differences in the present day and it turns into quite a creepy adventure, in the end, certainly full of dark shocks and chilling surprises!

I would definitely recommend this book to fans of Harry Potter. It is witty, very clever and really interesting. Wish I could see the actual performance of it, but that isn’t likely to happen, I don’t think, ahaha! I’m giving this book four stars out of five, just because I was disappointed that Harry didn’t really resemble his original character in the first 7 books, but other than that, it was really good and I was very happily surprised. 🙂

four star

What did you think of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child?

  • Did it meet your expectations?
  • Was there anything you were disappointed in?
  • Are you going to go and see it at the theatre?

Thank you for reading my review!

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14 thoughts on “New Dark Secrets Surfacing in: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”

  1. Laurie Welch says:
    Reply

    Gee, I have heard so many different takes on this book, er, play, I don’t know what to think. I really appreciate your thoughtful review. I can’t wait to read it myself!

    Liked by 1 person

  2. mez_blume says:
    Reply

    A very measured approach. I have to agree with you – it wasn’t seamless with the original series, but that was to be expected in a completely different medium. But it certainly had it’s merits & was well worth the risk of disappointment to spend a little more time in HP’s world:)

    Nice time turner!

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. growupwithbooks says:
    Reply

    Hi Poppy,I read the cursed child too,I didn’t understand some of the words but I liked it just the same! When I first started reading it I wasn’t so sure about it but when I got into it more I loved it.The book was full of twists and magic and I was enchanted by it! You review was spot on and you thought exactly what I thought about it, by the way have you read the Goblet of Fire it’s really good.:)

    Liked by 1 person

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